Mixed messages @ grad school; WAS Re: How often is your resume read on job boards?

[Amy Smith/Westford/IBM <amy_smith -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com>]

I attended the same graduate program as Bonnie. However, I was already 
employed as a technical writer, and had solid experience with telecom, 
LANs, and Internet engineering. 

In all fairness to Bonnie (with whom I have worked and agree with Keith C 
that she is a fine editor and writer), the program underwent some faculty 
changes and upheavals during our tenure there. The faculty, overall, is 
very good, and is comprised of professors with only academic experience 
and adjunct faculty who have been in the trenches (Hi, Marguerite!). 
However, the program takes its tone  from its leadership, and during most 
of our tenure there, the program director was more oriented towards 
writing and communication skills.

If memory serves, I remember being  frustrated with the 'pure' academic 
types. I found that their lack of 'trenches' experience made it difficult 
to apply theory to practice. Again, in all fairness, the same professors 
did welcome input from us grizzled war veterans in class. :-) The adjunct 
faculty, on the other hand, were great at bringing their real-life 
experience to the classroom.

Program participants were encouraged to take two (I think) electives 
outside of the core program requirements, so I guess there was an 
opportunity to take hard-core tech classes. (Incidentally, all tech 
writing program participants were required to take a C or Pascal 
programming class.) However, I couldn't tell you if  we were ever 
encouraged to be 'technical' in subject matter (as in "You need to know 
(pick one) SQL; security; C++"). But since I already had technical 
experience, any information in that vein (or lack thereof) might not have 
been intercepted on my personal brain radar. ;-) 

I don't mean to dis or defend the program - just sharing my experience. 
Overall, I was satisfied with the program - I learned things I didn't 
already know, and was able to share my experience with others. And it may 
have changed since I graduated. It has a new director now, so perhaps 
things are different. 

In looking at other area tech writing/info design program, though, I don't 
know if they encourage you to be technical in the things you write about, 
either, so much as you are taught to be technical in the tools and skills 
of your craft. For example, one area college has a program in UI and 
information design, and has  invested considerable $$$ in a usability lab 
in which students bring in usability design and test projects from real 
companies and actually do UI design/usability testing work (under the 
auspices of top-notch professionals). 

Here's a question - is it just important that tech writing students be 
encouraged to be 'technical'? Or should a program - graduate or otherwise 
- provide some opportunities for formal subject matter training? 

To be technical or not to be technical - that is another question. IMNSHO, 
being 'technical' has always worked for me. When I worked with a group of 
Internet engineers, I would go with them when they installed routers at 
various corporate locations. When I needed to document LANs, I was the 
department LAN admin and helped support users. I even managed the 
corporate IP address database (we didn't do dynamic addressing in those 
days, so no comments on that, please). I not only assigned ALL corporate 
IP addresses (the power! the glory! the work!), but I designed the user 
interface for the database. I would never call myself a router technician, 
but when Joe Engineer told me that he added six subnets to the WTC A 
router, I automatically knew what changes I needed to make in the 
documentation. The doc was always better, as a result, and I enjoyed good 
working relationships with the engineers. 

Guess I'm just a geek at heart. Currently, I document server security. My 
dream is to have my own security forensics workstation. ;-) :-) 

Now, back to work, me!

Amy Smith, Principal User Assistance Writer
IBM Software Group/Lotus Software
amy_smith -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com




From: "Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info>
>
> I'm a writer. I guess when my one-year anniversary rolls around 
September
7,
> 2002, I shall truly rue the day I borrowed $50,000 in order to go to
> graduate school in 1995 for my degree in technical writing. Nobody even
> hinted that one had to be a "techie" to make it in this field.
>
> I feel robbed.
>





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out the new release of RoboDemo, our easy-to-use tutorial software.
Plus, buy RoboHelp Office in August and save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Get details and download free trial versions at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
 
TECHWR-L is supported by ads and sponsorships...and donations.
You can help maintain the TECHWR-L community with donations
at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/abouttechwhirl/donate.html
 
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.